Performance Management Blog

Teamwork: A poem on Alligators, Sharks and getting out of the mud!

A variety of casual conversations in the past few days have refocused me on the “soft” side of teamwork, with soft referring to the stuff you cannot get a grip on. Some things are hard, like measurements and results and systems and processes, and some things you cannot even observe.

Let me use three simple words to illustrate:

  • Bureaucracy
  • Politics
  • Culture

A new acquaintance in the UK brings his college students to the US each year to visit companies like Nordstrom’s and The Ritz-Carlton and Southwest Airlines to show how some cultures simply support  high levels of performance and quality. Since I consulted in this for decades back in the 1980s, the conversation was near and dear to my heart. Then, we shared a discussion along the lines of why so many companies just do not seem to get it.

Teamwork is certainly a factor, but the best teamwork will fail in an organizational culture that is not supportive. I often use the metaphor of alligators and sharks to talk about competition (with the sharks being the consultants, of course). But those same things can apply to organizational power politics, where somebody’s space or turf is being protected from incursions. (Think someone not in training doing training without HR buy-in or think someone working inter-departmentally with managers without the approval or oversight of their respective bosses…

So, since I was playing with the other cartoons in my Lost Dutchman series and doing some poems, I just now crafted up this little ditty:

Lost Dutchman Square Wheels Alligators Sharks blood mud poem

Click on the image to read more about
The Search for The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine team building exercise

It seems pretty common that people get “up to their axles in mud” and that making progress is often more difficult than it should be.

So this cartoon and poem are dedicated to the “soft stuff” that gets into the way of making progress.

For the FUN of It!

Scott Simmerman Lost Dutchman Debrief

Dr. Scott Simmerman is a designer of team building games and organization improvement tools. Managing Partner of Performance Management Company since 1984, he is an experienced presenter and consultant.

Connect with Scott on Google+ – you can reach Scott at scott@squarewheels.com

Follow Scott’s posts on Pinterest: pinterest.com/scottsimmerman/
Scott’s blog on Poems and Quips on Workplace Improvement is here.

 

 

 

Dr. Scott Simmerman

Dr. Scott Simmerman is a designer of the amazing Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine team building game and the Square Wheels facilitation and engagement tools. Managing Partner of Performance Management Company since 1984, he is an experienced global presenter. -- You can reach Scott at scott@squarewheels.com and a detailed profile is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottsimmerman/ -- Scott is the original designer of The Search for The Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine teambuilding game and the Square Wheels® images for organizational development.

Subscribe to the blog

Tags

Categories

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may also like